CH745

<Alright, Ben, if you’d come to my realm we can try to sort this out.>

Alright.

He forced his mind up as he’d done plenty of times in the past, making his way to his god’s realm where more than a few were already waiting.

It wasn’t the full pantheon of the planet but it was also more than just the small handful he’d had dealing with him any time he wanted to discuss payment, with the group ending with the gods he was close to, Anailia included, all there and waiting while the rest he’d usually have to deal with had shown up along with the one who’d specifically gotten in the way of him putting in his quest with with a handful of others, with Phixth speaking first, looking exceptionally tired.

“Alright, let’s get this over with,” He muttered in a way that seemed a bit less controlled than usual, with that deity already prepared for a long, exhausting conversation. “Now Duna, would you be so kind as to explain just what your intentions were and the reason for your actions?”

“What’s to explain?” She asked as Ben looked at her, seeing someone who appeared to be a mixed breed of one of the elven species with one of the avian that would normally have left Ben to wonder if they were one of the ascended gods if not for the fact that they’d intentionally gotten in his way to make his day and life harder. “It’s my job to guide my believers in the way I view as right, is it not? This boy looks at all of us and only sees what he can get, why should he waste the world’s resources to grow even stronger? I don’t know about the rest of you but the more he does, the more I’m loath to see him standing among us.”

“He’s not yours to judge,” Nare spoke back coldly. “Nor is it your place to decide that for the rest of us.”

“I’m not alone and you all know it,” She told him, turning to the others. “Look at how he acts. You already know what he’s trying to do with this, do you really want him coming even closer to ascending?”

It was clear the answer was largely a no, even if some looked indifferent and that small back and forth had made it clear just why they were getting in his way. While he hadn’t been too open about it, he also hadn’t gone out of the way to try and hide the fact that what he was attempting was for the sake of speeding through the rest of his jobs and it seemed that fact had made its way to the gods of the world, with more than a few who wanted to stop it at all costs.

“It doesn’t matter what you do or don’t want,” Anailia told them, hints of anger in her voice. “This is a massive overstepping of bounds. And why, all to get in the way of a mortal you find difficult? Disgusting.”

“Anailia, we can’t just let the system be exploited so thoroughly-” Another tried, being cut off before he could go on by Nare.

“Why not? Whatever benefits are to be gained from it are no loss to us and the entire point of its creation was to help people grow, the very idea of getting in the way of that is ridiculous. Are you all so afraid of seeing a god of sacrilege, because if so, I’d say it’s your own actions that would be provoking anything worth fearing.”

“God of sacrilege and greed,” Another scoffed. “Look at how much he already tries to take us for each time he feels a little clever, do you think that’s going to stop if he gains genuine power over us? I’ll admit he has some accomplishments but they’re nothing I’d want to see him standing beside us as equals for.”

“Nothing you’d want to- Are you an idiot?” Helori yelled. “Whatever issues you may have with his personality, you’d have to be blind not to see all he’s done for the world. We might not even be here to have this fight if not for him! Not to mention everything he’s been making to help!”

“And are you all really so used to not having to pay mortals for their work that you’re going to stand in his way like a bunch of children because of it,” Nare spat, personally offended as a god who gained faith specifically because of people who used their skills to make and sell their wares. “Who’s actually the greedy one between the two?”

“Easy to say but there’s no denying the boy tricked us all into spending so much of our faith.”

“As payment for saving the world,” Myriad told them. “Or did you all forget about how vital the planet is if you want to keep gaining faith, what with it being the home of every believer you have.”

“All of you, enough,” Phixth sighed, raising a hand to try and get control of things. “Regardless of how anyone feels, Duna was wrong for this but more than a few are unsatisfied with apostle Ben. With the small bit of time we had to discuss this, the majority of the more impartial gods among us have come to a conclusion we hope will be acceptable to all parties.”

“Oh, this should be good,” Helori muttered while Phixth only looked more exhausted.

“Helori, please. We won’t get in the way of Ben sending his quests, all we ask is that since he has a talent for gaining experience, he use it to actually help the world. Including the contenders of the planet in his parties as well as helping the third-tier skill holders complete their jobs, the effects of such a thing could be massive. It could potentially help more awaken to their own godhood in the time we have left and if we’re exceptionally lucky, might even get some of the third-tiers levels in their skills.”

“And all at the low cost of my apostle’s health and time,” Myriad spoke. “This is your solution? One of us steps in the way of another god’s believers and instead of putting it right we put them to work?”

“It’s for the planet-” One tried before being cut off.

“And that makes it okay to exploit a mortal?”

“If it means the rest get to live then yes!”

Tensions were only growing higher while Ben listened, breaking his silence for the first time since he’d gone up.

“I give up.”

Those three words quieted the crowd, with the ones against him elated by it. After feeling like they’d been forced to dance in the palm of his hand since he’d started making himself useful, it seemed they’d finally gotten something out of him while making him back down, leaving the gods on his side with their own complicated feelings.

They didn’t want things to go in such a way, they didn’t want their fellow gods to exploit a mortal because of whatever grievances they held, but whatever the outcome, the suggestion would be good for the world as a whole. If more could reach the third tier because of that and if any already at that tier could manage to gain just a single level to their skills, the planet would immediately be better off for it, with Phixth in particular looking relieved that things had gone so smoothly.

“Thank you, apostle Ben. In that case, we’ll begin contacting the relevant parties, and-”

“You’ve misunderstood,” Ben cut in, looking exactly like he felt, tired and done with it all. “I give up on everything. You all think I’m greedy when all I’ve ever wanted is to be paid for my work? Well I’m done. I’m not helping people level because you all decided to corner me into it and I’m done making things for this planet. I’m done trying to do my best to ensure this doomed garbage world survives the invasion when even after all I’ve managed you all still see me as nothing more than a tool to be exploited than an equal worthy of proper consideration.”

“What are you talking about,” Another god asked. “Like it or not, you live on this world. You don’t just get to quit.”

“Watch me.”

Without another word he pulled his mind from the realm, feeling more than finished with the planet by that point as he started heading home.